Policy analyst and vice president of IMANI Africa Bright Simons has launched a scathing critique of Ghana's Agenda 111 project, describing it as a wasteful and expensive initiative that lacked proper planning and accountability.
The ambitious project touted as a response to healthcare gaps highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic aimed to construct 111 hospitals and clinics nationwide.
However, Simons has questioned the government's true intent and execution of the initiative.
According to Simons, the project was rushed under the guise of pandemic preparedness, despite no prior budgetary provisions in the government's medium-term expenditure framework. "The government used COVID-19 as a pretext to embark on a massive hospital and clinic building spree even though no budgetary provisions had been made for such," he wrote.